Virtus holds off Bursaspor 98-94

Virtus Segafredo Bologna held off visiting Frutti Extra Bursaspor 98-94 in their rescheduled Round 10 game on Thursday night.

Regular Season

Round 10 of 18

game Frutti Extra Bursaspor vs Virtus Segafredo Bologna

Regular Season

group b

Virtus Segafredo BolognaVIR

9894

Frutti Extra BursasporFEB

group b

Overview

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Virtus swept the regular season series against Bursaspor and improved to 7-6, while Bursaspor dropped to 4-8 on the season. Virtus led 77-59 late in the third quarter, but Bursaspor, led by Andrew Andrews, used a 0-12 run late in the third and a 0-13 run in the fourth to go in front. However, Kyle Weems scored 8 points in the final 3 minutes, including a pair of triples, to lift Virtus to victory. Mam Jaiteh scored 23 points on 9-for-9 two-point shooting to lead the winners. Weems finished with 18 points, Isaia Cordinier scored 17, Marco Belinelli netted 12 and Alessandro Pajola had 10, while Milos Teodosic dished 13 assists. Andrews shined with 37 points with 6 assists for Bursaspor. Onuralp Bitim scored 19 and Derek Needham 17 in defeat.

Weems scored 5 points early, including a three-point play, but Andrews knocked down a three-pointer before Bitim and Jaiteh traded close-range baskets that had Virtus up 11-10. But Needham made a three-pointer before Andrews hit from downtown on back-to-back possessions for an 11-23 lead. Virtus was held without a basket for more than 4 minutes before Cordinier banked a last-second three-pointer to end the first quarter.

Belinelli opened his account with a triple at the start of the third quarter and, after a driving layup from Omer Utku Al, a triple apiece from Cordinier and Belinelli got Virtus within 25-27. Ayberik Olmaz and Belinelli traded threes before Amedeo Tessitori tied it at 30-30. Andrews had a triple-plus foul for Bursaspor, but Tessitori, Belinelli and Weems gave the hosts their first lead of the second quarter, 38-36. Needham nailed another Bursaspor triple only to see Cordinier restore the lead for the hosts. Jaiteh and Weems combined to score 7 points in the final 90 seconds of the half to make it 51-44 at the break.

The second half was up-tempo with the teams trading blows. Jaiteh had a three-point play before Alessandro Pajola and Andrews traded triples to make it 57-51. But Kevin Hervey and Jaiteh scored inside, before Pajola and Teodosic each connected from the outside, in opening a 71-55 margin. Jaiteh's basket opened an 18-point lead, but the visitors answered by scoring the next 12 points with Andrews scoring a triple and a three-point play. Needham added a basket-plus-foul, too, cutting it to 77-71, and the visitors were within 78-73 after 30 minutes.

The teams went to the free throw line a lot early in the fourth, but Cordinier had 5 points, including a three-point play that opened an 86-77 lead. Bitim scored 7 consecutive points on the other end, including banking in a shot-clock beating triple. A fastbreak layup from Andrews tied it at 86-86 with 4:47 to go, but the visitors were not done yet as the same player put them in front before Bitim's steal and layup made it 86-90, capping a 0-13 run. But Weems nailed a three-pointer to make it 91-90, then another one for 96-94 with 1:17 left. Weems finished things off with a baseline floater 30 seconds before the final buzzer to secure Virtus's victory.